GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Former area football players Joe Staley and Dan Skuta are one win away from playing in the Super Bowl.

Staley, a Pro Bowl left tackle from Rockford High School, and Skuta, a backup linebacker and special teams standout who went to Grand Valley State, are with the San Francisco 49ers. They take on Seattle at 6:30 p.m. (EST) Sunday in the NFL Championship game.

Joe Staley

For Staley, a 2003 Rockford grad, it’s a chance for a second trip to the Super Bowl. He was with the 49ers last year in New Orleans when they lost to Baltimore, 34-31.

This season, Staley, 29, in his seventh season out of Central Michigan, was selected to the NFL Pro Bowl team a third consecutive year, and has been whistled for two penalties all season.

To reach the Super Bowl again, the 49ers will have to deal with noise level at CenturyLink Field in Seattle, regarded as the loudest stadium in the NFL. Staley said in an interview Thursday with national media that experience will help. The 49ers play there every season.

"Crowd noise is always a factor when you play them but we have played there before. We understand that. We understand the noise level and how to communicate non-verbally. It is something that also we have practiced throughout the whole entire season. We are very familiar with going silent count, is what we call it, on the road. That is something that we have not just practiced for one week, but we have practiced for the last three years."

Dan Skuta

Meanwhile, Skuta will be in his first league championship game. He won two NCAA Division II titles at Grand Valley State during his college career that concluded in 2008. He told MLive’s Eric Woodyard those experiences helped prepare him for big games.

"It feels somewhat similar to college. Obviously it's a much bigger level, but the way we've won games is similar to college in a way because no one's worrying about losing we're just worried about making plays.

"We just have that confidence that at some point in the game someone's going to put us in a position to win and our defense is tough. The confidence we had at Grand Valley is kind of the confidence we have here, which is pretty cool."

Skuta, 27, signed as a free agent with the 49ers this offseason after four seasons with Cincinnati. This season, the outside linebacker and special teams player has started eight games and scored a touchdown on a fumble recovery against Jacksonville in October. He has 28 tackles overall.